When the Dead Walk
by morbidlilangel
Summary: Harry (James) is the immortal Master of Death traveling through America when the dead start to walk. Now he and a group of strangers must learn how to survive in this new dangerous world. Many OCs and the canon characters will join later.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs

Harry's POV

It has been thirteen years since the Final Battle at Hogwarts. Thirteen years since I thought that all my troubles were over, that I could finally have a peaceful life. I could get married, have a family, and grow old. Ten years ago I learned that would never happen. My dreams and goals were never going to come true because I had stopped aging. Hermione, Ginny, and Ron were steadily growing and changing but I still looked the same age I was that day. It was eight years ago that I lost them all. Not to death, as one would expect, but rather to circumstance. Eight years ago I learned the horrible truth, I could not die. I had been attacked in Diagon Alley. That was fine, no big deal; it wasn't like it was the first time since the war. The only difference was that this time I didn't see one cutting curse coming my way and it got me in the neck. That should have been it, I should have died, but my neck just healed. Right there in the middle of Diagon Alley my neck healed from a fatal injury.

I left the Wizarding World the very same day. All it took was a trip to Gringotts to set it all up and get my papers. I had all my money put into muggle banks and got a list of properties worldwide. Harry Potter died that day and James Black was born. James was a rich orphan with no attachments, no purpose either.

I spent five years traveling through Europe. There was so much to see and explore. I would stop for a while in each country to learn about their culture and magic. After a couple of close calls I decided to change my appearance a bit. I grew out my hair, in honor of Sirius' memory, and put on some muscle learning mixed martial arts. While in France I got my eyes fixed with muggle laser surgery and got a tan on the beaches of Spain. Just a few little changes but I looked like a completely different person. I really enjoyed my time traveling through Europe but after five years I was ready for something new.

My next stop was in America. I have spent the last three years traveling across the Southern States. Every so often I stopped in different towns for a few weeks to rest, learn, and explore. The weird thing about America is that the magic won't allow you to sidelong apparation.

This time I stopped in a small town in Georgia. I have been here for almost a month of my expected two month stay. Everything was great, the locals have shown me what southern hospitality was all about but about a week ago things started to change. At first we just heard rumors about the dead walking among the living. We thought it was sick joke or a prank like the war of the worlds but two days ago we saw it for ourselves. For the first time they were showing video of the carnage on TV. There were corpses walking around eating the living.

Even as we rushed to prepare we prayed for the plague of walking dead to miss us. We decided that the local high school would be where we evacuated to if they came through here. All the windows were covered in chain link fence and the doors were prepped to be barricaded. As our second line of defense all classroom doors were to be locked and we made blockades in the hallways with paths in middle until they need to close. The cafeteria and the gym were to be where we held up should the dead walk here. We set up the auditorium as a safe place for the children to hang out and play. The Library was to be for the adults, something to get their minds off the danger. We thought it was perfect.

Now I am sitting in the cafeteria trying to understand how all our plans went wrong so quick. Even with all of our preparations we lost most of the town. We had been going along business as usual to keep a since of normalcy and stop people from panicking. The sheriff noticed the first one and sounded the alarm to evacuate. Even with a warning and all our preparation we were not ready for the utter carnage the walking dead caused. After the alarm sounded they were coming from every direction and were on us in minutes. What in theory should have been a quick and bloodless evacuation turned out to be a battle for survival. Many were killed long before they got close to the high school.

I was lucky that I always carry muggle guns and blades in my bottomless mokeskin pouch because I learned quickly that magic didn't work against them. Fire spells would slow them down and reduce them to ash but instead of scaring them off it attracted more. Regular spells they didn't even seem to notice. Shooting them in or hacking into the brain seemed to be the only way to kill them. Not even cutting off their heads would fully kill them. Cutting of limbs only slowed them down.

We held the doors to the school open as long as we possibly could but we soon had no choice but to close them. By the time we locked up the school there were only about three hundred of us and more than half were injured. Some of the students had gone straight to the cafeteria but most had tried to help their families and friends. Most were lost, many were injured, and very few came back unscathed. We hadn't factored in the damage that panicking crowds would make. They caused as much damage and death as the walking dead.

We have moved all of our injured into the gym and the auditorium. A few of the people in the cafeteria with us have fevers and look really ill. We can only hope that they get better soon as our few doctors are needed to tend to our wounded. I have no idea what we are going to do with our dead since some of those wounded are sure to die of their injuries.

Author's Note: This is a story that my friend wanted and I have been writing it since the end of season 2. I am currently up to chapter 33 and still writing. She wanted it posted so here it is. Hopefully you like it but you may not. I never wanted this read by others but she won't quit bugging me so here you go.

If you read my other story the next chapter will be up soon. I finally found my story and can't wait to get back to posting.

Thanks,

morbidlilangel


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs

Chapter 2

James POV

It has been about five hours since we locked ourselves into the school. The doctors have forbidden the rest of us from entering the gym or auditorium because the death count was at eighty and rising every few minutes. It will be seven soon and we are all just sitting down to dinner, strangely calm even though we can hear those things outside. Suddenly a pain filled scream fills the air coming from the auditorium. Two of the doctors, that were treating the less injured, come running into the cafeteria and start barring the door behind them. They are screaming about bites and infections but their fear has made them hard to understand. From what I can grasp through their screeching it seems that the bites somehow infect people and change them into those things. Just as we get the doctors to calm down one of the woman remember the other doctors and rushes to get them out of the gym.

She leaves the door open as she runs into the gym screaming that it needs to be evacuated. It takes three seconds before we hear her scream of terror. A group rushes after her and I am already on the move. These people may not have figured it out yet but it's time to run. I can already hear the doors to the auditorium groaning under the weight of the dead trying to get to us and I would bet everything I have that the gym has already been lost.

I look to the doctors and see that one of them has run towards the gym and the other is about ten feet away from me gathering his family to him. It seems that he feels it too, the feeling that we are no longer safe in here. I run over to him and motion to start heading for the other doors with his family and start to grab others to come with us. I grabbed a few before chaos breaks loose in the cafeteria. The group that went after the woman come running back in and tries to close the door but those things get in. Everyone is running around trying to get to the exits, the same ones we heavily blocked earlier.

I run over to the group I got together and yell for them to follow me, hoping that more will follow our group. As we run we all try to grab more people but everyone has entered panic mode and they keep trying to get to the blocked exits. I lead them through the hall and into the Library that was to be an entertainment room. The blockades in the hall aren't going to come down fast enough for us to get away from those things so this will be our only chance for survival. All of our plans for safety have trapped us in with those things.

I push my group into the Library and we quickly block the door with anything that we can move in front of it. Now that we have a moment to breath I can count how many we have. I only managed to grab twelve people, thirteen if I count myself. As I look around I notice that everyone in our group of survivors looks ready to collapse, the fear is getting to them. I pull my duffle bag off my shoulder and reach into my mokeskin pouch to pull out some water for everyone.

As I hand out the water I introduce myself to everyone that is with me. "I have some water for everyone. My name is James Black. I figure we should introduce ourselves since we need to work together to survive. So let's start with you and your family doctor."

"Well my name is David Mitchell; this is my wife Monica, and our children Josh and Samantha. Josh is eight and Sam is ten. Monica was a nurse before Sam was born but she is a stay at home mom now." David answers as he places his arm around his wife and kids, trying to calm them down now that the danger had passed. Monica is a blonde of about five foot six with big blue eyes and a kind face. She and the kids look as if they were at the park before the dead came to town. David is tall; around six foot two, with short red hair and brown eyes. He looks the part of a doctor, white lab coat and all. Josh and Samantha are both strawberry blondes though Josh had his dad's eyes where Sam has their mom's.

A young brunette girl with hazel eyes wearing a purple hoody, blue jeans, and purple/white tennis shoes speaks next. "I'm Amanda Travis and this is my boyfriend Jason Smith." She looks at the six foot green eyed blonde boy, wearing jeans and a green polo on her right.

"My name is Dennis Morgan and this is my wife Sharron and our son Michael. I'm a lawyer and Sharron is a reporter for the local paper." The man to the right of Jason volunteers. He is five foot eight with brown hair and eyes wearing a blue long-sleeve collared shirt and black slacks. Sharron is about five foot five with her long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and light brown eyes. She is wearing a blue track suit and white tennis shoes. Michael is a perfect mix of his parents and looks to be around five wearing SpongeBob pajamas.

"I'm Kim Anderson, that's Ryan, and that's Ashley. Ryan is my older brother and Ashley is his girlfriend. Neither of our families made it to the school so we are hoping that they are hiding in one our houses since we are neighbors." Kim and Ryan are blonde with greyish blue eyes. Kim is around three inches shorter than Ryan's five foot ten frame. Ashley only stands around five foot two and has long black hair and expressive bluish green eyes. All three of them are wearing blue jeans and green hoodies.

"Ok. So now that we have introduced ourselves we need to come up with a plan to get out of here. I don't know about you people but I don't want to remain trapped in here with so many walking corpses, just trying to get in. Plus we don't have any supplies in here. If we can get out of here maybe we can find a place to hold up and get supplies to live." I say as I start to think up strategies to get us out and plans for the immediate future. Eventually I will want to get to Texas. The Black family has a self-sustaining farm that is warded up tighter than Hogwarts with brick walls surrounding it. It would be the perfect place to hold up with as many people as I can get. Best part is that there are no people only free house elves there.

"We should just stay here; someone will come for us eventually. I don't want to bring the kids out there with those things. We are safe in here." Monica exclaims back almost sounding hysterical. The danger is affecting these people worse than I had originally thought. I have to get them out of here before they lose it at the wrong moment and get everyone killed.

"Like I said we don't have the supplies to get us through more than a day and we are surrounded by walking corpses. At the moment those things are focusing on the others that tried to get out going the opposite direction but who knows how long it will take them to notice us in here and break down that door. All we have to do is go through one of the other exits and try not to be noticed. We can do this. We can get away from this place and find another safe place. We know the danger now and we can work together and survive this thing. Or we can give up now and hope for the best. Think about this though. This is a small town. How long do you think it will take for someone to come here and if they do how are they to know you are hiding in the library?" I ask in the calmest voice I can muster at this time. These people don't need me to be angry, they need me calm so that I can make them think clearly.

"I can see where you are coming from and that is the best idea. Staying in here is a sure bet that we won't make it for very long. But we have to think about this clearly and make a plan. So let's brain storm how to get out of this school." Dennis tries to be the voice of reason from the back of the group.

"We need a map of the school and to figure out if there are any vehicles that we can take off with close by. If we don't have any cars then we can at least run from those things but I would rather drive since its dark and they could be in shadows. So do we have a map of the school or something that shows the school and its exits?" I start looking at the walls as I talk, trying to locate a map. If I can find a map I can strategize correctly and make a better plan.

Jason walks behind the Librarian's check out station and grabs a map of the fire escape route off the wall. He comes back and places the map on the table that I am standing next to. As soon as the map is down I start marking down where the blockades in the halls are. For once it seems luck is on my side because the librarian's office door leads out to the other side of the blockade and about ten feet from the exit to the teacher's parking lot. That means that we just have to check and secure the hallway on that side before taking the barricade off the door.

"Did anyone park in the teacher's parking lot when they got here this afternoon?" I ask, barely daring to hope that we will have a way to get out of this hell.

"Ms. Tanner forgot her purse in her office; I remember her saying something about it while we were in the cafeteria. It has her keys in it and she always parks in the teacher's lot three spaces from the door. She drives… drove a dark green Explorer." Ashley speaks up from Ryan's side.

"My mini-van is parked halfway out in that parking lot and David parked his new Sequoia right next to me. Between all the cars we can all easily fit and get away from here." Monica says as she pulls her keys out of her pocket. She seems a lot calmer now than she did before.

"Ok. If we go through the Librarian's office and out that door we will reach the hall on the other side of the blockade. About ten feet from there is the exit to the teacher's parking lot where we have three vehicles to escape with. We just need to ensure that the hallway is secure so that the children and whoever is with them can stay safe as the others pull the cars around. I'll go check the hall but I would like at least three more people to come with me. That way we can check both sides of the hall quickly and hopefully safely." I say while digging weapons out of my mokeskin pouch, once again making it look as if they are coming from my duffle. I don't want these people to know about my magic now or maybe ever. "I have a few weapons here for anyone who will be coming with me. They are all melee weapons but they will do what we need for now. I'll let you all decide who is coming with me and I will wait for you in the office. Please hurry because we want to do this with all barricades and blockades are as strong as possible." I turn and walk the thirty steps into the librarian's office. I dig the librarian's keys out of her purse since I am in here and out them in my pocket. Since no one has joined me yet I put my ear against the door and listen for anything in the hall. I can hear nothing but the muffled screams from the area around the cafeteria. I can only pray that the hall is still secure.

Behind me I can hear three people walking up behind me. Its seems my team has assembled and now it is time to pass out weapons and get this show on the road. Jason, Ryan, and Dennis are in the office looking at the weapons I had dropped onto the desk. Ryan and Dennis grab two machetes that I had from an old gardening job while Jason grabs a metal baseball bat, great for anger management. I give each of them a police baton seeing as I grabbed a few earlier today, they should make good backup weapons. Since they are equipped with weapons now I pull out the Sword of Gryffindor as it never leaves me anymore. I see the questions in their eyes but shake my head no. This is not the time to be answering pointless questions about my possessions.

"David we are going to need you in here to watch the door and let us back in if we need to retreat. Take these just in case." I say as I pull out two, foot long, daggers and hand them to him when he enters the room. "Now that we're all here and ready let's go. We don't want to waste any more time."

I walk over to the door and open it an inch. Immediately the screams of pain and terror split the air a hundred times stronger than before. I look at the others in my team, nod my head, and start into the hallway. Praying that it is still secured and we are going to get out of here safely.

Author's Note:

Sorry about the long wait. I wrote this whole thing out on paper and never typed it up. I just let my friend take my hand written copies one chapter at a time. So now I am typing this up before I post and trying to fix any errors that I made that she also didn't catch. It is taking longer than I thought it would. I am now working on typing up Chapter 3 but it will take a while as I have a strict policy of no more than one hour a day on the computer and I like to read fanfiction too. So you probably see the dilemma. Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one will be up a.s.a.p.

Thanks,

morbidlilangel


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or The Walking Dead. If I did Harry would have never been with Ginny and Shane wouldn't have been obsessed with Lori.

Chapter 3

James POV

The screams from the people around the cafeteria are tearing at me. Every fiber of my being is yelling at me to go back and save them even though I already know that they are lost. There is nothing I can do now, they went the wrong way and to go back would mean to be eaten. I went through a war and I know when to run in and when to keep going. This is a case where I need to keep going and save the ones I can. I shake my head and force myself to think only of this group's survival, I saved the ones I could now I have to keep them alive.

I quickly poke my head out the door and search the hall for any sign that those things have gotten in. It looks clear and I dare to hope that we can at least make it out of this school without having to face any of them. I know we will have to go against them when we get outside but we can deal with that when we get there. I pull my head back in and turn to the others, we need to move now because time is of the essence.

"OK. The hall is clear so Jason you're with me. We are going to check the right side of the hall. Dennis, Ryan you two will check the left side of the hall. At the end there is another hall that goes left and right, at that point we will split up and check the corresponding direction. When you are done meet back where we split up, do not come back without the other team. Do you understand?" I question them looking into their eyes to be sure that they get everything and aren't going to break under pressure. Each of them nods their head with a look of grim determination on their faces.

With their nods I open the door and walk across the threshold and into the hall. We quickly check the classrooms closest to us and they seem to be untouched for now. As we walk I drown out the screams by listening closely for the sounds of footsteps or breaking glass. I don't hear anything and we quickly reach the end of the hall. I nod to the other team and start down the hall to the right with Jason. For some reason more than one classroom has those things trying to break through the fencing covering the windows, the glass already shattered on the floor. There aren't enough of them to get through the fencing but it sends a cold chill down our spines.

A little farther than halfway down the hall we understand why. One of the doors on the left side is cracked open and we can hear what sounds like a woman and a toddler crying. I signal for Jason to stop wear he is and sneak up to the door and peek inside. Sitting at the teacher's desk is an older woman, maybe forty, holding a toddler against her as they both cry. A man and a teenager are standing guard over the two though neither is looking at us. They are staring transfixed on the things trying to get through the windows and getting closer to getting through every second that passes. The teenage boy is holding a wooden baseball bat, ready to swing at the first one that makes it in, and the man is holding a gun, ready to fire if he needs too. I spare a glance at Jason to make sure that he hasn't moved then I open the door, these are more people that we can save.

When I open the door the teenager quickly turns around ready to attack anything that threatens his family. He sees me and looks surprised that I am even there. They must have heard the screams and thought that they were the last people alive in the school. I walk into the room and hold my sword pointed down to show that I am not a threat.

"Are you all ok in here? Anyone injured?" I ask when they are all looking at me.

"We are fine just extremely freaked out, but fine. We trapped ourselves in this side of the barricade on accident when we came looking for our son. The blockade went up quicker than we thought it would and we had told Alex to stay here when we talked before the phones went down. We heard the screaming from the cafeteria area start about half an hour ago and thought that the school was lost. Are there any more people with you?" The man asks looking like he had already given up hope only to find it once more.

"Yes. We are holding up in the Library for the moment. The cafeteria belongs to those things now and only thirteen of us got out. Two teams of two are securing the halls right now so that we can safely get the rest out of here. Were there any more people in this hall with your family?" I ask as I walk over to the shattered windows and use Gryffindor's sword to stab the dead in the head. I might as well take as many as I can out while it is safe too. That means that there will be less out there when we leave.

"No, none that we have seen or heard. Who are you anyway?"

"My name is James and like I said I am trying to secure this hallway. If your family will allow me to check for bites I will bring you to the rest of the group." I am careful not to mention Jason in the hall in case the man decides to attack. They don't seem to have noticed that I said two teams of two.

The man looks at his family and nods his head. "My name is Alberto Garcia and this is my wife Emily, our sons Alex and Anthony. We will allow you to check us for bites if you need to. Please help us get out of here." He says and puts the gun into his belt to show that he means not to harm me.

"Jason, come in here and help me check for bites. We have a family of four in here. They say they have no injuries but we have to be sure." I call out lowly, making sure to keep my voice from carrying farther than him.

Jason enters the room and walks over to the woman and toddler as I walk to the man and teenager. "OK. I need each of you to show us your arms, legs, and torso. I know that you say that you have no injuries but we have to be sure for the safety of the rest of our group."

Now that I am closer to them I can make out the details of the family. The woman is about five foot with long wavy black hair and dark brown eyes. Her tanned skin is complimented well with her red shirt and black pants though her boots are going to be a problem if we have to run. Her husband is around five foot six with dark brown hair and lighter brown eyes. His dark complexion is matched in his son who looks like a younger, skinnier version of him. The toddler is a mix of his parents with his mother's light skin and black hair, and his father's light brown eyes. He is dressed to match his mother in red and black play clothes.

Jason and I check each of them thoroughly and are happy to see that they were telling the truth. There are no open wounds on any of them. Now we just need to finish securing this hall and we can meet up with the others.

"Ok. You are all clean. Jason and I still need to finish securing this hall so your family should go back that way. You should wait where the two halls meet. Dennis and Ryan should be waiting there. If not they will be there soon. Come on Jason." I grab Jason and continue on down the hall, behind us I can hear the Garcia family moving in the opposite direction.

The rest of the hall is strangely quiet compared to the rest of the school. It's as if nothing is around. After checking the end of the hall we turn around to go back to the rest of the group when I see movement out of the corner of my eye.

Out of the window in the classroom I see something that makes my blood run cold. It's like a scene out of a horror film; hundreds of them are making their way across the field, illuminated by the lights from the baseball field. I run into the classroom, unlocking the door with barely a thought and a twitch of my finger, to have a closer look.

They are coming from every direction though they all seem to be going in one direction, the cafeteria. Currently they are on the opposite side of the school but if we don't move quickly we will be completely surrounded. I hear my own voice saying the only thing that is going through my mind, "Well fuck, we're in trouble."

Sorry about the long wait everyone. I always forget how busy this time of the year is in my family. I will try to have the next chapter up within the next week but I make no promises. Though I can't wait to get it up and see what you think. The next chapter begins the action and survival side of this story. I'm starting to regret how long I made the beginning because I want to get to the good stuff. Grrr.

Well until next time,

morbidlilangel


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

James POV

I can hear my heart racing; feel my blood rushing through my veins; hear the edge of panic in my thoughts. I have been in so many life threatening situations but this is by far the worst. There was sure to be an end to all the rest, be it life or death, victory or defeat. But as I run through the hallway of a high school in Georgia I can't help but feel that this is only the beginning and it's only going to get worse. The dead are walking and eating the living. The school I am in is about to be completely surrounded. The screams that have been the distraction for those things are starting to die down leaving who knows how many of those things in here with us. And worst of all I have a group of civilians to protect and the group just keeps getting bigger.

Dennis and Ryan are waiting with the Garcia Family for us. I slow down for only a moment to gasp out a few words, "They… everywhere. Got… to get out… now." Jason has run ahead, I know I am going to regret it if he yells out about them because it will create a panic but there is nothing to be done about it. I speed back up and hear the rest running behind me, each asking questions but I don't want to waste time to answer. We need to hurry.

The door is already open and David is staring at me with a look of confusion and fear on his face. I can hear Jason getting everyone ready to go yet trying not to cause a panic. He and I are going to have to have a talk at some point because that is not normal teenager behavior. I take a deep breath and start giving orders. "I have a set of keys. David you have your keys, I would say you take your keys and go to your van Monica but I need you to keep your kids calm. So Dennis how about you take the keys for the mini-van. Alberto you go with David as you have a gun, take a baton with you. Can any of you teenagers drive well at night?" All five raise their hand to show that they can do it. "Ok then, Jason and Ryan we will go with you two since you did so well earlier. Same teams, teens drive, adults will be watching your back. Those of you who are going to be with the children team up so you can quickly jump in the vehicles when they pull up to the doors. Sorry to cut this short but we have to go now." I turn and walk out the door before the others can start to talk or object to anything.

With barely a wave of my hand I loosen up the barricade on the door. The nails and screws will come out easily now, hopefully no one will think about it too much. When the others get to me I am already pulling the nails out of the wood with a black and green hammer and I have a matching screwdriver on the floor next to me. On top of my duffle bag are five guns with two clips each. Alberto grabs the screwdriver off the ground and starts getting the screw to unscrewing the thankfully few screws that were used. Out of the corner of my eye I see David and Dennis grabbing a gun each and handing another to their wives. The last one is surprisingly grabbed by Ashley but it makes since one gun to each group.

It only takes us two minutes tops to get the barricade down. I turn to the others and give my final orders. "Be fast, be quiet, and the guns are only to be used if you have no other choice. You that are staying here and waiting on the vehicles stay as quiet as possible. Signal when you are ready to unlock your car doors so we can unlock them at the same time, hopefully that will attract less attention. Ok let's move." With that I open the door and walk out, Jason right on my heels.

I look around and notice a few in the parking lot but they don't seem to have noticed us yet. Alberto, David, Dennis, and Ryan exit and start to sneak across the parking lot as quietly as possible. Jason takes the lead to the Librarian's Explorer as I hold Gryffindor's Sword ready to attack or defend. As we get close to the Explorer I hear it, there are very uneven footsteps ahead of us. I can't see anything through the shadows but I know that it is there. Jason moves behind me and I take the lead watching my every step. Three steps are all it takes and suddenly it's lunging at me. I slash the things head clean in half, before I even think to move I grab its body so that it won't attract attention collapsing to the ground. Once again I stain my ears to listen for any more of them close by.

There, it's barely there but I can hear something. It is only the sound of crunching gravel but I know that means there is another close by. As I am looking for the source of the noise I hear what sounds like a body hitting the ground a bit a ways away from us and I can only cringe at the noise. That is going to attract some attention to them. But it does do one good thing for me. The one close to me is now moving with a purpose and I can now pinpoint where it is. I walk to the end of the car next to me and look to the right. There behind my target is one of those things that is barefoot. No wonder I could barely hear it. I quickly walk over to it before it can notice me and stick my sword through its head and use it to lower her down. I grab the back of her once white dress and pull it out of the way of the Explorer. There are no more near us so I put Jason next to the driver's seat and walk back to the back of the Explorer to watch for the signal.

As I look over the parking lot I can't help but feel a little envious that their vehicles are lit up by the lights above. I watch their progress and everything looks good. For a moment I think that we are going to get out of here with no problems when I see it. Inside the car they are walking by is one of them and the window is down. Before I can do anything to signal them to be careful or make them notice the danger I hear something that I almost makes my heart jump out of my chest.

"ALBERTO IN THE CAR!" Emily's voice rings loudly through the air. One moment they freeze and the next is pure pandemonium. Alberto looks into the car at the same time the thing grabs ahold of him and pulls him part way into the car. I hear his scream of pain and I know it is already too late for him but I watch as David and Ryan pull him back as Dennis shoots twice. The first bullet misses but the second is a direct hit. They pull him along as they run to the cars. I turn to Jason and signal him to unlock the doors and get in. Sounds no longer matter, they know we are here.

"Get the car over there and get a group. I'm going to provide cover fire and get back to the doors. I'll be in the last car. Try to remain in the parking lot, if you can't go a bit down the road and wait there. Make sure not to get over run." I yell to Jason as start back to the doors. I put the Sword of Gryffindor away and pull out two black and silver S&W 9mm handguns. Jason passes me on the way to the doors and I start looking for targets. I hear the sound of the two cars unlocking and pray the others are safe. The sounds of multiple guns firing rips through the air.

I raise my guns and take aim. The things are coming from everywhere. I know I didn't see that many of those things in the area only a minute ago.

I squeeze the trigger on each of my guns and watch as the two closest to the mini-van fall. All of a sudden I feel like I am in one of those first person shooter games Dudley used to play. As I continue to run to the doors I keep aiming and firing. My mind has once again thrown me into the role of leader, soldier, and teammate. Some of the walking corpses have broken off going after the guys by the cars and are now making their way toward the screaming children. I am firing my gun as fast as I can aim but I can already see that the parking lot is about to be overrun. In the distance I can finally here two vehicles starting up and pulling out.

I am five feet from the doors when Jason pulls away with the first group and as he once again passes me I can see that he has all the teenagers that were left in his vehicle. I reach the doors still firing my gun as Dennis pulls up. There are cries of pain coming from the back so it seems they switched partners. Both of their families are quick to jump into the minivan and it takes off not even thirty seconds after stopping. I stand with Monica as she holds her children close waiting for the Sequoia.

The parking lot is being overrun and they are getting so close. Where are they? One of those things gets within about ten feet from us and I once again squeeze the trigger of my guns only to hear the dreaded _click click_ of empty barrels. "Fuck" I scream as I slide my empty guns into the waist of my pants and summon the Sword of Gryffindor straight into my hands. Quickly I raise the sword and ready myself. Out of the corner of my eye I can see David finally pulling up, the front of his car covered in blood and gore. I rush forward and cut down the things closest to us hoping to give Monica time to get the kids into the car. I can feel the congealed blood covering my hands and but I keep swings and thrusting my blade until finally I hear it.

"James, get in!" Monica screams, panic clear in her voice.

I run to the car and jump in as she slams the door shut behind me. I move to roll over but my duffle bag is caught on something under David's seat. I try to pull it free but it doesn't want to give. Finally I admit defeat for the moment and pull my arm out of the strap. I myself up off the floor of the vehicle and look through the windshield. David is driving through the field to get to the road the others are on. Monica is holding her children as they cry together and David is focused on trying to get us through a maze of those things. Ryan is staring straight at me though.

"Are you ok? Were you bit?" He asks when he can see that I am staring back at him.

"I'm fine. I wasn't bitten. What happened to you two? Dennis was there long before you got there."

"We were closer to the minivan when that thing got Alberto so I helped get him in there. I shut the door after getting him in and Dennis took off before I could get up front. Those things were coming from all over and Dennis was just gone. David pulled out right after him but he noticed me running to try and catch up with one of them. He stopped and I jumped in as quick as I could but that stop was all it took for our path to be flooded. We had to pull around into the field where there was more space and run down the ones in front of us. We got there as quick as we could though." Ryan explains, his voice breaking as he tells about being left behind.

"Ok then. Does anyone know of somewhere around here that we can go for the night? It needs to be fenced or walled in."

"Mr. Gunther's survival cabin." David supplies after a moment.

"Who is he and are you sure?"

"Mr. Gunther is someone that the town has always thought of as a nutcase. He's the type that always said that the world was going to end bloody so he spent a lot of money setting his cabin up. There are ten foot high fences surrounding his property. We should be safe there." David answers but then adds, "He went to visit his daughter a while back and hasn't returned. Don't know how we could get in."

"If we can get there I can get us in. How far away is it?"

"About forty-five minutes away. It's deep in the woods so hopefully there won't be any of those things around." David says and for the first time since I got in the car I can see hope on everyone's faces.

We are behind the minivan now, waiting for Jason to stop somewhere so the whole group can be told where to go.

Up ahead I can Jason pull the Explorer into the parking lot of an empty gas station and get ready to get out of the vehicle and scout the area. I expect to see the minivan ahead of us slow down and turn in but that's not what Dennis does. Instead of slowing down he speeds up and keeps on going down the road. And just like that the group of survivors from the school has lost almost half of its members.

I don't know if we will see them again or if Dennis will remember that Alberto is going to turn just like those people in the Gym. All I can do now is pray that they will make if and that we will see them again. For now I need to talk to the others and get us set up in that cabin. Only time will tell if we will see any of them again but by leaving like that they have chosen their fate whatever it turns out being.

But as I try to put them out of my mind I can't help but wonder just what is going to happen now? My group of seventeen has dropped to a group of ten. As David pulls the gas station parking lot I figure the only thing I can do is take it one day at a time and save as many people as I can. For the first time in years I have a purpose, now I just need to figure out how to do it.

A/N Hey Everyone,

Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I actually got this up in a week so that is awesome. As everyone knows the holidays are right around the corner so it might be awhile before my next chapter. So, sorry ahead of time if I don't get it out next Monday but hopefully you will all understand. Oh and that wasn't the complete end of those characters, well it is for some, but you will see that later. Bye for now.

Thanks,

morbidlilangel


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